Learning Curve
by MelyBelle44
Summary: ONE SHOT What happens when Sheldon finds out what that chew toy really is for.


Penny continued to push Sheldon out the door. When she got to the entrance to her apartment, she grabbed onto his tie to keep a hold of him, moved around him and opened her door, dragging him inside.

Once inside, after Penny had let him go, Sheldon rubbed the back of his neck, where he was sure there was a mark from where the tie had dug into his skin. "Penny, have you lost your mind?!"

"Are you really that clueless? A dog toy?" she screeched.

"By your tone, I am getting the impression it wasn't a dog toy?"

"Of course it wasn't," she bit back. She softened her voice though when she saw a look of complete bewilderment on his face. "It's another kind of toy."

She turned around and plopped down on the couch. For a minute she worried that Leonard would come across the hall and eavesdrop on their conversation. It certainly would not be beneath him. It wouldn't surprise her, yet she found herself not really caring whether he heard or not, despite her display immediately prior.

Sheldon took a seat on the couch as well, but maintained a space between them. "I'm sorry; I am not familiar with such a toy. Further, why would you care if other people saw it? I mean, look out our apartment, Penny. It is a shrine to any and every kind of toy in existence. We could hardly judge."

"Oh for God's sakes!" she let out, exasperated.

"Okay, well the invocation of a deity is my cue to leave," he said as he stood.

"It's a sex toy!" she blurted out. "A vibrator."

Sheldon sat back down. "Okay. I see why a sex toy would be embarrassing."

"Not embarrassing," she admitted. "More like I didn't want to hurt Leonard's feelings."

The physicist looked like he was trying to process a very complex equation inside his mind. "Penny, before we go any further, perhaps you could explain how this….vibrator you called it? How it works?"

"Really, Sheldon? Why?" the blonde growled.

"Well, without a basic understanding, I don't believe I will be of any use to this conversation."

"I can't believe I am going to explain this to you. Your mother is going to kill me."

"I'm okay with that," he replied without even a hint of irony in his voice.

"It stimulates my, er, lady parts, and helps me to reach," she hesitated, trying to think of the most proper terminology to use, "my sexual peak."

"In layman's terms, an orgasm," Sheldon finished.

"Oh God!" she groaned.

He scooted closer to her, twisted his hand around not sure what to do with it, settling it on her shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her. "Don't be ashamed, Penny. I'm not judging you."

"Thanks sweetie."

"But, can you please explain to me how such a device would hurt Leonard's feelings?"

"I hid it in the closet, because I didn't want him to see it. When Leonard and I are together, he's very caring and gentle, and I know that he wants me to be happy. But, I just feel like I am going through the motions. I just lay there, waiting for it to be over." She looked over to make sure Sheldon was still following along. "Very rarely, hardly ever anymore, do I reach, you know, with Leonard."

"Orgasm," he interjected.

She swallowed. "Right."

"So, you use this toy to relieve the sexual desires that Leonard cannot fulfill?"

"Well, yeah, mostly."

"And this toy stimulates your mind?"

"Huh?"

"This is all very confusing."

"How so?"

"This toy that you use brings you physical pleasure, correct?"

She nodded, having no clue where he was going with his questions.

"However, what you described of your relations with Leonard, the issue doesn't seem physical so much as cerebral, that is 'of the mind.'"

"Well…"

"You are not incapable of orgasm, or else this toy wouldn't provide results, either. So, your lack of release with him must be in your mind, right?"

"Well, yeah I guess. Sex is very complicated, Sheldon. Sometimes, the lack of physical pleasure influences your mental pleasure and vice versa."

He looked down into his lap. "I may not understand sex, but I understand _you_. The whole going through the motions, just waiting for it to be over, that pretty much describes my whole relationship with Amy."

"Really?" she asked quietly.

He simply nodded, still looking down.

"Oh, honey," she said sympathetically, wrapping her arms around him in a quick hug.

She tried to joke with him. "Aren't we just a couple of sad sacks?"

He was speechless. He was now staring out into space, again seeming like he was trying to solve an equation. His eyes were darting back and forth, not looking at any one thing, and definitely not looking at Penny.

"Sheldon?" She tried to snap him back to reality.

"I'm sorry, Penny. I'm just thinking of something that is very interesting. You don't want to live with Leonard, nor I with Amy. You are not sexually satisfied by Leonard. I am not sexually attracted to Amy. We can't tell our significant others how we feel. And, yet, here we are, able to speak candidly with each other. Curious, isn't it?"

He looked up and bore his crystal clear blue eyes into her eyes of green. If it was anyone else in the world, Penny would think he was suggesting something. If he were anyone else in the world.

She laughed awkwardly. "Yes, well you are Homo Novus. You aren't sexually attracted to _anyone_, so that's hardly unusual."

Sheldon looked away. "That's not entirely true."

"What?!" she gasped in shock. "You dog!"

"I'm sorry?"

"You have a deal."

"A deal?"

"Nevermind. I just didn't think you viewed women that way."

"Penny, I'm a superior minded being; I'm not dead. It's a perfectly natural thing for a human being to find themselves wanting to mate with another."

"But, you don't want Amy?"

"No, I don't."

All of the sudden, he felt very close. Penny sensed heat rising to her face.

"And, I don't want Leonard, do I?"

"No, you don't," it left his mouth as barely a whisper.

Her eyes went crosseyed, as she saw him inching closer. "Stop. You were raised better than this. Please stop."

Sheldon jerked back, stinging from rejection.

She stood up and walked to the door to let him out. He followed, puzzled at how quickly things had gone wrong. "Sheldon, can you send Leonard over here?"

"Of…of course," he frowned.

"And, you may need to find somewhere to sleep tonight. Your roommate is going to be particularly whiny and insufferable this evening," she smiled at him.

Realization hit Sheldon, and his own smile spread across his face. "Ah, yes. Well, Amy and I have our own discussion to have, so I shall bid you good day."

* * *

Penny was sitting on her couch, wearing shorts and a tank top, her hair pushed up on top of her head in a messy ponytail. She felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.

She heard knocking at the door. Three rounds of it, to be exact.

"Penny?"

"Penny?"

"Penny?"

She opened the door with a smile. "Hey Sheldon!"

He held up a pair of heels. "You left your shoes."

"So I did," she took the shoes from him and threw them toward her room.

He shook his head. "May I come in?"

"You may," she replied formally, stepping aside to let him in. "How did your talk go?"

"It was…successful."

Penny wasn't sure what that meant. Had he been successful in breaking it off with Amy? Had he successfully convinced Amy to stop harassing him?

"Yeah, mine went better than expected. Instead of beating around the bush, I just laid it all out there, plain and simple. I could tell he was upset, but surprisingly, he didn't beg or cry. At least in front of me."

"Oh, I knew exactly how things went, when I heard my roommate channeling several songs by one Taylor Swift. You done him wrong," he joked in an exaggerated Texas drawl.

A silence passed between them.

"So…"

"Indeed."

"You want to stay and watch TV?" she asked.

"Not really."

"Alright. Well, can I get you something to eat or drink? I have ice cream."

"No thank you."

Penny wondered what was going on. Had she read him wrong?

"You want to help me organize my bathroom?"

"Without a hazmat suit?" he scoffed. "Hardly."

She was getting impatient. "Okay, Sheldon, then I guess you can leave. _You_ asked _me_ if you could come in. Remember?"

"I have an eidetic memory. Of course I remember."

"Okay, well, I am going to bed. Let yourself out of the apartment when you stop standing there like a wackadoodle." She walked back toward her bedroom, picking up her shoes on the way.

She turned to close the door to her bedroom, and when she did, she found herself inches from Sheldon. He had followed her, and he was standing very purposely in her personal space. She looked up to him, waiting for an explanation.

"You told me I should find a place to sleep tonight. So, I was thinking…"

"Right, right," she interrupted. "Fine, you take the bed; I'll take the couch." She was too tired to argue.

He didn't move out of her way. Rather, he continued to try to explain. "No, I was thinking…" He looked like he was trying to find the right words, an unusual look for someone who always had something to say and who usually didn't care whether his words were right or not.

He hesitantly reached out, and Penny smiled, thinking how sweet he could be sometimes. Her hospitality had earned her a Sheldon Cooper hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist.

He placed his hands on her shoulders, but instead of pulling her to him in an embrace, before she could realize what was happening, he was kissing her.

His movements were stiff and unsure, but his arms finally relaxed, wrapping around her body. God bless the boy, he was trying to kiss her. He was trying to kiss her?

She pulled away, without reciprocating his advances. "Sweetie, stop."

He backed his face away, but their arms remained entangled with one another.

"I'm sorry," he said lowly. "I'm not really any good at this."

"It takes time," she replied gently. "Try it again. This time, don't be so rigid. Let your lips move, feel, explore. Okay?"

He nodded timidly, then leaned down and kissed her again, this time more softly. Penny's lips began to move against his, lightly at first, then with increasing fervor. After a few minutes of relatively chaste kissing, Penny opened her lips, and allowed her tongue to push his lips apart and into his mouth.

She could feel him freeze momentarily, but as her tongue found his, he responded instinctually, caressing her tongue with his, and then moving his tongue inside her mouth.

She pulled away and pulled her tank top over her head, exposing her perfectly proportioned breasts to Sheldon. He simply stared at her chest then back into her eyes, looking for something he was shocked to see: desire.

He kissed her hard. "Beautiful. So beautiful," he murmured between kisses.

She pulled away, breathing heavily. "Wow, um…wow"

Sheldon noticed that her nipples were stiff. This indicated arousal. "You seem stimulated, Penny. Should I bring you your toy?" he asked sincerely.

She smiled. There was definitely going to be a learning curve when it came to being with Sheldon.

"Definitely not."

* * *

Several hours later, Sheldon collapsed onto the bed. He was red and his hair was drenched in sweat. He gasped for air. "I don't know…" _huff_ "how much more" _puff_ "I can take." They had just finished their sixth round of lovemaking.

Penny wrapped her arms over his chest and a leg around his, pressing her body to his. "Mmmm….let's get some sleep," she said satiated beyond belief.

When Sheldon woke the next morning, he had never felt more complete. Penny stirred in his arms, and finally woke, looking up at him through half-lidded eyes. "Morning," she smiled.

Minutes later, they were on their way to round seven.


End file.
